British Roads

[Bug One]

Near me there's a local farmer that helps out remove snow from the roads with his tractor and metal shovel.

You can literally see pieces of road, markings, cats eyes etc being ripped apart as he does it.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Near me there's a local farmer that helps out remove snow from the roads with his tractor and metal shovel.

You can literally see pieces of road, markings, cats eyes etc being ripped apart as he does it.

Haha! Oh dear!

 

[ubersonic]

The funniest thing is when a road snakes along the border between two counties, and only one cares about maintaining the roads, so every 100m it flips between good/terrible surface XD

 

[beachBOYken]

They don't seem to bother repairing pot holes in the Winter around my way, I guess its to save money as they know the cold weather, rain and occasional snow only creates more.

 

[ubersonic]

20+ years ago they actually did a good job repairing the roads around here and they'd last 10 years before getting into a state - now they do a cheap *** job that looks like decades of neglect after only 2 years and must have cost them far more in the long run than just spending the money to do a good job in the first place.

This x100, since 2008-ish the quality of road surfacing has dropped dramatically, like they are using much cheaper tarmac. It's funny when they resurface a road and the new surface is even worse than the old one (minus the potholes).

My council filled a pothole on my route to work last week and they were so stingy with the tarmac that there's still a pothole lol.

 

[beachBOYken]

This x100, since 2008-ish the quality of road surfacing has dropped dramatically, like they are using much cheaper tarmac. It's funny when they resurface a road and the new surface is even worse than the old one (minus the potholes).

My council filled a pothole on my route to work last week and they were so stingy with the tarmac that there's still a pothole lol.

What's that method called when they lay a type of gravel and cars have to bed it in and go about 10mph until its safe, I always avoid these roads if I can until its bedded as its horrible to drive on, wondering if its a cheaper method than regular tarmac.

 

[sovietspybob]

What's that method called when they lay a type of gravel and cars have to bed it in and go about 10mph until its safe, I always avoid these roads if I can until its bedded as its horrible to drive on, wondering if its a cheaper method than regular tarmac.

That's a way to prolong the time between resurfacing, like you say they just spray down tar and throw chippings on top. They did that one one of the lanes to my house last summer and it is a noticeable improvement for what the cost must be but the road underneath has to be in decent condition in the first place.

I think the pot hole filling has really taken a nose dive as before you'd cut out a square around the hole with a nice neat edge, fill in with tarmac and then put tar around all the edges to seal it in and while not as good as doing the whole road wasn't terrible but now all they seem to do is throw some tarmac in the hole and tamp it down with a stick and move on. That then washes out in the next few frosts and bouts of heavy rain leaving an even bigger hole.

I've only driven in a couple of places in Europe and while their road surfaces can be a fair bit better (Germany!) i still think our road layouts and road furniture are a lot better here.

 

[Sankari]

UK motorways are good, but the A roads are a mess, and anything smaller is simply hellish.

 

[Invertigo]

A road near me was in bad condition so was resurfaced. Now this road also has a crossing raised on a speed bump full of potholes, so naturally this was ignored and the road either side relaid.

However, some bright spark decided to taper the new surface downwards just before the speed bump, so now the road dips down right in front of an almighty speed bump. I've stopped going that way now as I value my front bumper...

 

[jon86]

... if you think ours are bad then you should take a trip to America. Their roads, even the interstates, are absolutely shocking.

Where in the USA are you referring to? Even the worst that I've seen is better than the equivalent in the UK. Some states, like Texas, have very smooth and enjoyable roads, as many of the best are paid for by tolls.

 

[Liquidfox]

This x100, since 2008-ish the quality of road surfacing has dropped dramatically, like they are using much cheaper tarmac.

We have a client who's entire business is repairing potholes, they have a method which will provide a top-quality repair and last years but it's too expensive the Council say... so they pay them for a poorer quality job which entails them coming out repeatedly as the repair fails costing everyone more money in the long run...

 

[FishFluff]

Where in the USA are you referring to? Even the worst that I've seen is better than the equivalent in the UK. Some states, like Texas, have very smooth and enjoyable roads, as many of the best are paid for by tolls.

California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. All bumpy as hell compared to our smooth(ish) motorways.

 

[adolf hamster]

We have a client who's entire business is repairing potholes, they have a method which will provide a top-quality repair and last years but it's too expensive the Council say... so they pay them for a poorer quality job which entails them coming out repeatedly as the repair fails costing everyone more money in the long run...

so they haven't got the time or money to do it right, but they have the time and money to do it twice

 

[Liquidfox]

so they haven't got the time or money to do it right, but they have the time and money to do it twice

Exactly. I'm guessing it's because the 2nd repair is in the next budget. So £100 year-on-year is easier for them than £400 in one go even though the latter may last 8-10 years/

 

[Semple]

It makes me wonder if after Brexit our roads, especially motorways will have less HGV traffic? A reduction in HGV traffic would work wonders to congestion and damage to the roads.

 

[Roland Butter]

Agree about US roads, mostly great but single carriageway roads in snow regions can be
rutted and bumpy.

The tax from petrol sales in the US is used for road infrastructure construction exclusively so
you have the strange anomaly of over-engineered and large capacity dual carriageway highways
with no traffic on them.

In the 20s and 30s the US government built 1000s of miles of scenic parkways in mountain regions just so people
could have a drive, have a picnic, and enjoy the lovely scenery.

Can you imagine how long that idea would have lasted in the UK parliament back then ?

 

[acemastr]

When we used to visit the US on holiday, the contrast between roads there and here was a stark one. Wide lanes with most main highways having a parking/breakdown shoulder (also ideal for cyclists) and on many normal carriageways frequent overtaking lanes. Outside the cities the freeway network allowed you to maintain a high average speed on interstate or inter-city journeys. Car parking is wide and spacious and often laid out diagonally so drive in/drive out without reversing. Contrast that with the UK where even the A Roads are often narrow winding lanes, no shoulder just a high banked verge or ditch either side. A plethora of roundabouts as opposed to using traffic light intersections where, in a desperate attempt to keep things moving, the local authorities have squeezed in an extra lane but at the cost of being barely wide enough for a normal car, let alone a van or lorry. And don't get me started on roundabouts with lights... Given the amount of funding that (in theory) should be directed at the roads, we should have the best designed and maintained highways our cramped and over-populated little island can support.

You didn't come to Florida then Roads are appalling down here, the sun/traffic/hot engines destroys it and they patch it rather than resurfacing. Part of the reason I got a truck!

 

[Lopéz]

British roads are really not that bad, I see significantly worse in Europe every day.

 

[Dr Who]

British roads are really not that bad, I see significantly worse in Europe every day.

A lot of the roads where I work are like the road to Damascus, or Aleppo

 

[Joe T]

Where in the USA are you referring to? Even the worst that I've seen is better than the equivalent in the UK. Some states, like Texas, have very smooth and enjoyable roads, as many of the best are paid for by tolls.

Any many of them in Texas are concrete. Do you like driving on concrete? And do you like paying tolls in order to do so?